The Tokyo event, sponsored by Bitcoin Unlimited, will feature talks on building the “permissionless economy”, as well as the latest on-chain scaling research. It follows a similar theme to the previous one-day Satoshi’s Vision conference in San Francisco in September 2016, and the “Future of Bitcoin” conference in Arnhem, Netherlands in July 2017.

Other speakers include researcher and Cornell University associate professor Emin Gun Sirer, Chris Pacia of OpenBazaar, Rob Danielson of Rocketr.net, and Johannes Vermorel of Lokad. Event organizers said they’ll announce more speakers soon.

First Event Since Bitcoin Cash Created

Satoshi’s Vision 2018 is notable as it’s the first to take place after Bitcoin Cash became a reality. Previously, Bitcoin scaling and “big blocker” research could only be theoretical, and presenters were subject to skepticism their ideas would never work on an actual, live cryptocurrency blockchain.

All that has changed now, putting new focus on the ideas and what may come next. Bitcoin Cash has a $42.2 billion USD market cap of its very own, and its community is busy building an economic base of users and merchants.

Since hard-forking from Bitcoin (BTC) in August 2017, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has faced issues and controversy over difficulty adjustment, miner support, address confusion and even its very name.

What Is ‘On-Chain Scaling’ and Why Satoshi?

On-chain scaling explores the concept of cryptocurrency as an active, spendable asset that can be used as everyday money. The term “Satoshi’s Vision” is a reference to Satoshi Nakamoto’s 2008 Bitcoin White Paper, which is titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”.

It opposes the notion that bitcoin should be a static digital asset that rarely moves, existing mainly as a value reserve to “back” other more liquid digital assets like altcoins and second-layer payment networks. This paradigm suggests bitcoin is more like a bar of gold sitting in a bank vault, with slips of paper representing its value used as currency.

To be secure and remain permissionless, according to on-chain scaling, transactions should not be restricted from taking place directly on the blockchain. This notion presents several technical challenges if it’s to work on a global level, and the Satoshi’s Vision conference will explore some of them.

Bitcoin Unlimited and Bitcoin XT now focus their resources on developing improvements to Bitcoin Cash, which currently has Bitcoin ABC as its primary protocol software.

Who would you like to see at the Satoshi’s Vision conference in Tokyo? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments.

About Jon Southurst

Jon Southurst is a Senior Editor at Bitsonline. He is based mainly in Tokyo, and is interested in the roles Asian economies play in developing cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Follow him on Twitter @southtopia